138 THE SEA. 



rising towards our boat, the base of which, perhaps, 

 was hidden some miles in the great deep below. 

 Though moving on a level surface, it seemed almost 

 as if we were ascending the height under us ; and, 

 when we passed over its summit, which rose in appear- 

 ance to within a few feet of our boat, and came again 

 to the descent, which on this side was suddenly per- 

 pendicular, and overlooking a watery gulf, as we 

 pushed gently over the last point of it, it seemed as if 

 we had thrown ourselves down this precipice ; the 

 illusion, from the crystal clearness of the deep, actu- 

 ally producing a start. Now we came again to a plain, 

 and passed slowly over the submarine forests and 

 meadows, which appeared in the expanse below ; in- 

 habited, doubtless, by thousands of animals, to which 

 they afford both food and shelter, animals unknown 

 to man ; and I could sometimes observe large fishes 

 of singular shapes gliding softly through the watery 

 thickets, unconscious of what was moving above them. 

 As we proceeded, the bottom became no longer visible ; 

 its fairy scenes gradually faded to the view, and were 

 lost in the dark green depths of the ocean." 



But none of these peeps beneath the surface give 

 us the slightest idea of the depths of the ocean. Where 

 and what is the ocean floor in " blue water ?" Until 

 within a very few years this question remained with- 

 out an answer, and deep-sea soundings were only a 

 delusion and a snare. Many enterprising officers in 

 the navies of Europe had made essays to get bottom 

 in the open ocean ; some with the common deep sea- 



